ZX-Galaxians
Reviews Summary Personal Computing Today Issue 1 Writer: PF A good version for the Sinclair of the well known arcade game. You have three spacecraft equipped with the now mandatory laser guns! In front of you are the formations of the hostile Galaxians; shoot down one fleet and another will take its place. Meanwhile some of the enemy craft will peel off from their close formation and swoop down upon you dropping bombs as they go. You have control of your position - left and right movement - and an inexhaustible supply of laser bolts! The number of attack craft aiming for you increases but the overall speed of the game is well balanced. Slow enough for the novice to get the feel of the game, but fast enough for the experienced tactician to travel some way and score a satisfying number of hits before he gets beaten to death! ZX Computing Issue 2 Writer: Jim Robart My first reaction to the title page, was "Wow". The ZX GALAXIANS opening frame is a stunner. My first reaction to the appearance of the program when running, a mob of the letter V hovering ahead, a vaguely man-shaped thing (the 'spacecraft') built of standard graphic symbols underneath, was a disappointment. I had not reckoned on the intelligence of the Galaxians themselves. "This is simple," I thought, and proceeded to be wiped out with a miserable score of 20, for hitting one, and one only swooping Galaxian. I decided to concentrate a little more, and after five games, had managed to score as 'high' as 90. I soon learned that swooping Galaxians were to be feared, and they seemed almost impossible to avoid. From time to time my program crashed, if I was holding down a key when a new man was made available, but I imagine (hope) this was a quirk of my particular tape, and not a general fault in the program. ZX GALAXIANS runs entirely in machine code, and needs 4K. The program listing consists of a screen-long REM statement, a SAVE line, and a RAND USR line. The program runs itself after taking about a minute and a half to load. If it crashes, GOTO 20 will get it running again. The title page is deleted by touching any key. The "5" key moves you left, "8" moves you right and you fire by touching the "0". Points are scored by hitting Galaxians in formation (10) or when swooping (20). Despite the graphics, which are more Sinclair's fault than Artic's, this program — written by William J. Wray — provides a good emulation of the arcade game. If your nerves can stand an attack of swooping graphics symbols, buy it for yourself as an early Christmas gift. Popular Computing Weekly Issue 20 Writer: AE ZX-Galaxians is based on the arcade game of the same name. The program loaded first time in about one and a half minutes and runs automatically. After the title and copyright message appear, there follows a description of the game. It starts after pressing any key, upon which an array of four rows of eight Galaxians appear, along with your base. The Galaxians each score 10 points in the convoy, and 20 when they dive. Unlike the arcade version there is only one type of Galaxian, represented by the letter V when in convoy, or by three pixels when diving. Your base is formed from several pixels, it is moved by pressing 5 and 8 and 0 fires. The graphics are adequate but crude and there appears to be no relationship between your score and the speed and frequency of the diving aliens. The 'continuous status report' referred to on the cassette inlay is just a box displaying the score, hi-score, base count and instructions. This takes up most of the right-hand quarter of the screen and would be better dispensed with and replaced by more imaginative graphics. Each player is given three bases. When hit by a Galaxian missile, the base disintegrates in a suitably graphic explosion. The top scorer can input six letters or numbers of his choice, enabling him to satisfy his desire for temporary immortality. The game is also available from WH Smith, paired with a program called Sword of Peace, price £4.95. Summary ZX/Galaxians is smooth-running and difficult, despite faults. One would be hard-pressed to describe it as imaginative, though. The decision whether to buy one game for £3.95 or two games for £4.95 is yours. Category:Personal Computing Today Reviews Category:Artic Computing Category:ZX81 Games Category:ZX Computing Reviews Category:Popular Computing Weekly Reviews